So it's a scam pretending to be health care associated with Christianity. Has anyone noticed that very nearly ANY business associated with Christianity tends at some point or other to be revealed to be a scam, or at least a business which doesn't serve honestly or honorably?
The shame in all of this is that news like this won't be covered by CBS or NBC or ABC ... because if they DID, people might just get the idea that Christianity is NOT good for their health.
For most of my life I have always acted under the opinion that "if they push their religious ties and affiliations I assumed that they were CROOKED and would not use them.
Millions of dollars from members to line their own pockets? Sounds like a typical megachurch. This particular set of religious grifters just couldn't pull off public speaking so had to find a different angle.
It's just a novel variation on faith healing, nothing more. They've found a way to make it look like a legitimate business, but at bottom it's the same old con.
I don't know what's worse, trusting your healthcare to people like MCSI or having a Mother Teresa looking after you. And let's not forget the Catholic Church owning hospitals and making bad decisions about what services they'll extend to you, particularly if it involves women and their bodily autonomy.
Religion and healthcare do not mix. Want "death panels?" Look no further than those with God on their lips to be on those panels.
Insurance is 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 an industry which can only continue to exist by 𝘯𝘰𝘵 providing the service it's paid to provide, on every single claim they can make an excuse for declining. It's 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 a field rife with corruption and scummy business practices. Patients 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 die in droves because the entity they trusted to pay for their stupefying medical bills decided it was more profitable to let them croak (and don't get me started on why those bills are so high in the first place).
But wait- we can make it worse! Let's add 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘰𝘯, and make the whole sordid mess accountable to an imaginary friend instead of the business-friendly, patient-hostile minimalist oversight regular, secular providers already enjoy!
Anyone with an ounce of sense could've seen this story coming from the day this wet fart of an idea squirted into existence.
Goddamn, how bad does a church based scam have to be for fucking TEXAS to take legal action?
On a very related note: churches should be taxed out of existence and the overdue tax revenue should be put towards education and healthcare to make sure they don't come back.
I genuinely feel bad for these people whose trust was betrayed when they were most vulnerable, but, at the same time, I can't ignore the irony of conservative Christians supporting what was supposed to be their own version of socialized healthcare, finding out it was a fraud, and then turning to the federal government for help and rescue.
BUT!!! They will NEVER see the incongruity of the situation. They will still cling to their "but Hillary's emails" "OOOOOOOOHHHHH-that Nancy Pelosi". Almost ALL of them will never wise up. If I were to see them up close I would feel great sympathy but from a distance as in reading a story about them-FUCKEM is my opinion. They are destroying and have destroyed this country.
I feel bad for the children/dependants of the people who signed onto this. It's not their fault at all and Christianity screwed them over like it always does vulnerable people. The people who actually paid money into this, on the other hand, deserve zero sympathy.
Schadenfraude means to delight in another's misfortune. As I said, I genuinely feel bad for these people, probably because I work in healthcare and that whole industry set up is a scam in itself, but that doesn't extinguish the level of irony at work in this situation.
The entire U.S. healthcare system is set up to screw people over regardless of their religion, so these Christian pseudo-insurance groups should (ideally) never have had a reason to exist in the first place.
The may not even have a cause to exist now, depending on the severity of the corruption in the available, not-outright-fradulent healthcare programs and their costs compared to the cost of this one.
That ANYONE would go with an unproven, unprofessional, Made-for-Scamming system like this one just 'cuz Jeeeee-zus' is completely beyond my understanding.
Risk pools are risk pools, and the Jesus Plan just doesn't pass the smell test.
One of the fundamental axioms among con artists is that you can't swindle someone who isn't willing to be swindled. If they aren't looking to get something for nothing, or at least a great deal more than they put in, they wouldn't make good marks.
Amazing how Reality, as in REAL Math & Accounting, smacks the butt of Christinanity ONCE AGAIN!
I say Real Math as opposed to the recurring, 'mystical' figures like 40 Loaves/40 Days and Nights that Christinanity and it's founding fraud, Judaism, like to quote as "Holy Math".
BTW, good NYT column on Hasidic fraud in a school district they corruptly control just north of NYC.
Too bad the government can’t just outright ban these heath share ministries. They are not charities, they are not insurance, they are not businesses. They are straight up cons. Even if they aren’t as obvious as this particular one was.
A state's top Baptist Convention Executive's granddaughter supposedly has a brain tumor. They've set up several financial aid accounts. Having studied this man (story) for several years I think it's b.s. The kid won't be able to confirm or deny as they are 2 y.o. Baptist Executives - more ruthless power hungry men would be impossible to find.
From a French point of view the cornstarch is useless and you can replace the sugar from the filling and topping by almond powder since pears are sweet unlike plums 🤔
If you are adventurous, try a roquefort and pear tart 😉
Corden's career got off to a promising start in The History Boys. After that he quickly became one of those performers who are so eager to ingratiate themselves with the audience that the final effect is cloying. His antics in One Man, Two Guvnors were so over-the-top I was horribly embarrassed to be watching him.
It only 'failed' because the shysters were stupid enough to get caught.
Shell games have a completely different, almost 180 degree different, definition of 'failure'.
They need a class in at least 1-Sigma Design, much less 3-Sigma Design.
Found out from the place called Reality that 'failure' is a very fleeting term that needs to be defined BEFORE you go looking for and preventing it.
The ANSI standards on statistical sampling of manufactured/bought products are easy to understand in the sampling methods and frequency tables, but you first have to actually define what 'failure' means and then know what can cause that 'failure'
The only reason many other 'successful' health care plans are not 'failures' is because 'failure' was defined carefully enough, with help from the gummint at all levels, so the auditors and lawyers would have to spend more to make a their overhead and profit than they could ever recover in the actual civil or criminal action. Of course, there are relatively good healthcare systems, but they work in a good part by beating down the fraudulent pricings of the healthcare industry, itself.
For a moment, let's talk about Christians and donating money. I promise it's relevant, if somewhat tangential.
Back in the mid-80s to early 90s, my parents were dragging me to church and as the loyal Christians they were, they were making donations to the church every Sunday. I'll grant that as a family, we were fairly well off for the most part, but there were plenty of times that money could have gone to something we needed as a family and been far more help than giving it to the church. Around '84 or so, the church decided to do an audit of who was giving what, how much, and how often; I think it may have had to do with considering some sort of major expenditure. (I'd have been really young, this is something my mother explained years down the road.) This is when my parents found out that they were one of the church's major donors, since they got the results of the audit and even though names had been removed they knew what they were giving. This is despite the fact that there were several other families that attended the same church who seemed to be far wealthier than mine.
Here's what I learned: Do NOT trust Christians to donate money to any cause they are not required to for one reason or another, and be aware that when Christians do donate money, they are not the sort to give more than they absolutely must. High quality suits/dresses and fancy gold watches do not come cheap, where do you think that money comes from? I don't care if it's a church, ministry, or any other sort of allegedly 'Christian' organization; ALWAYS be sure to read the fine print and understand what is and is not actually on offer before you give them so much as a penny. Oversight is imperative whenever there is money involved and no amount of 'Jesus saves!' is going to change that.
Acts 2:44-45 "Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need."
The bishops and other christian honchos put an end to that shit as fast as they could, didn't they? Gee, I wonder why.
That's filthy communism. The bible promotes capitalism (Fox News told me so) even as it condemns greed (my preacher told me so (not all of them are blatant grifters, I firmly believe there exists some who are honestly trying to help people))
Even before then – our own "bishop" Tamaki hasn't got to the personal jet stage yet but he has a couple of Harley-Davidson's and a really posh Mercedes or two. All from the poor.
So it's a scam pretending to be health care associated with Christianity. Has anyone noticed that very nearly ANY business associated with Christianity tends at some point or other to be revealed to be a scam, or at least a business which doesn't serve honestly or honorably?
The shame in all of this is that news like this won't be covered by CBS or NBC or ABC ... because if they DID, people might just get the idea that Christianity is NOT good for their health.
If they have to advertise their Christianity, get it in writing, have your lawyer triple check, and count your fingers after the handshake.
For most of my life I have always acted under the opinion that "if they push their religious ties and affiliations I assumed that they were CROOKED and would not use them.
AND-check your ass too-make sure their tongue ain't caught there.
Of course it's a scam. The religion it's based on is itself a scam, so it can't be anything BUT.
Fraud: It's what Religion DOES!
Media only covers the scams fir a reason, it sellls. Just like the mis-leading headline on this article
I'm reminded of two quotes by two great philosophers:
1. Religion poisons everything.
2. You're not making insurance better, you're making christianity worse.
3. If it sounds too good to be true ...
4. You can't cheat an honest man.
Millions of dollars from members to line their own pockets? Sounds like a typical megachurch. This particular set of religious grifters just couldn't pull off public speaking so had to find a different angle.
If they promised to pray for the sick folks everything would have been OK.
It's just a novel variation on faith healing, nothing more. They've found a way to make it look like a legitimate business, but at bottom it's the same old con.
I don't know what's worse, trusting your healthcare to people like MCSI or having a Mother Teresa looking after you. And let's not forget the Catholic Church owning hospitals and making bad decisions about what services they'll extend to you, particularly if it involves women and their bodily autonomy.
Religion and healthcare do not mix. Want "death panels?" Look no further than those with God on their lips to be on those panels.
Insurance is 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 an industry which can only continue to exist by 𝘯𝘰𝘵 providing the service it's paid to provide, on every single claim they can make an excuse for declining. It's 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 a field rife with corruption and scummy business practices. Patients 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 die in droves because the entity they trusted to pay for their stupefying medical bills decided it was more profitable to let them croak (and don't get me started on why those bills are so high in the first place).
But wait- we can make it worse! Let's add 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘰𝘯, and make the whole sordid mess accountable to an imaginary friend instead of the business-friendly, patient-hostile minimalist oversight regular, secular providers already enjoy!
Anyone with an ounce of sense could've seen this story coming from the day this wet fart of an idea squirted into existence.
Goddamn, how bad does a church based scam have to be for fucking TEXAS to take legal action?
On a very related note: churches should be taxed out of existence and the overdue tax revenue should be put towards education and healthcare to make sure they don't come back.
All depends which Country Club Republicans and their children were affected?
I genuinely feel bad for these people whose trust was betrayed when they were most vulnerable, but, at the same time, I can't ignore the irony of conservative Christians supporting what was supposed to be their own version of socialized healthcare, finding out it was a fraud, and then turning to the federal government for help and rescue.
BUT!!! They will NEVER see the incongruity of the situation. They will still cling to their "but Hillary's emails" "OOOOOOOOHHHHH-that Nancy Pelosi". Almost ALL of them will never wise up. If I were to see them up close I would feel great sympathy but from a distance as in reading a story about them-FUCKEM is my opinion. They are destroying and have destroyed this country.
I feel bad for the children/dependants of the people who signed onto this. It's not their fault at all and Christianity screwed them over like it always does vulnerable people. The people who actually paid money into this, on the other hand, deserve zero sympathy.
Schadenfraude.
Schadenfraude means to delight in another's misfortune. As I said, I genuinely feel bad for these people, probably because I work in healthcare and that whole industry set up is a scam in itself, but that doesn't extinguish the level of irony at work in this situation.
I delight in their misfortune. So, schadenfraude.
... and which Christians will DO IT ALL OVER AGAIN because the rest of us bailed them out this time.
The entire U.S. healthcare system is set up to screw people over regardless of their religion, so these Christian pseudo-insurance groups should (ideally) never have had a reason to exist in the first place.
The may not even have a cause to exist now, depending on the severity of the corruption in the available, not-outright-fradulent healthcare programs and their costs compared to the cost of this one.
That ANYONE would go with an unproven, unprofessional, Made-for-Scamming system like this one just 'cuz Jeeeee-zus' is completely beyond my understanding.
Risk pools are risk pools, and the Jesus Plan just doesn't pass the smell test.
One of the fundamental axioms among con artists is that you can't swindle someone who isn't willing to be swindled. If they aren't looking to get something for nothing, or at least a great deal more than they put in, they wouldn't make good marks.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/feb/21/south-korean-court-recognises-legal-status-of-same-sex-couples-for-first-time
Just when I thought everything was going backwards.
They're good seouls, they are.
Badum tish ... or perhaps ... PYONG! YANG!
Or perhaps UijeongBOOM!
Or ... Big Bada-Boom?
*sigh* I've never liked you.
I just want to make people smile. Is that so wrooooooooong?
You've never sounded more like a christian minister. For shame! 😝
"At first, when I see you cry
Yeah, it makes me smile
Yeah, it makes me smile
At worst, I feel bad for a while
But then I just smile
I go ahead and smile"
Risus Sardonicus is not really a 'good' thing, though.
WOW, a judge who choose to protect people instead of imposing their bigoted views. Some should think to follow the same path.
Had a relative who started out protecting the plaintiffs from the bench in Workman's Comp court system and campaigning for Kennedy.
He died a Trump/Murdoch acolyte.
May be a biochemical thing like telomeres and apoptosis?
I'm probably a bit further left now than I was when I was young. So maybe not. 😁
It's an outrage! The way they're persecuting these poor christians.
Amazing how Reality, as in REAL Math & Accounting, smacks the butt of Christinanity ONCE AGAIN!
I say Real Math as opposed to the recurring, 'mystical' figures like 40 Loaves/40 Days and Nights that Christinanity and it's founding fraud, Judaism, like to quote as "Holy Math".
BTW, good NYT column on Hasidic fraud in a school district they corruptly control just north of NYC.
Too bad the government can’t just outright ban these heath share ministries. They are not charities, they are not insurance, they are not businesses. They are straight up cons. Even if they aren’t as obvious as this particular one was.
Freedom of religion does wonders to screw people.
A state's top Baptist Convention Executive's granddaughter supposedly has a brain tumor. They've set up several financial aid accounts. Having studied this man (story) for several years I think it's b.s. The kid won't be able to confirm or deny as they are 2 y.o. Baptist Executives - more ruthless power hungry men would be impossible to find.
They don't need money, they have Thoughts & Prayers™.....
(Tots & Pears?)
(Tarts & Players?)
Pear tarts?
https://therecipecritic.com/pear-tart/
From a French point of view the cornstarch is useless and you can replace the sugar from the filling and topping by almond powder since pears are sweet unlike plums 🤔
If you are adventurous, try a roquefort and pear tart 😉
All out of roquefort, would Velveeta work?
*Google Velveeta*
...
Don't speak to me ever again... 😝
Velveeta: Cheese found nowhere in nature.
:9------
Tarts & Pastors?
A good description of a church youth group: Tots and players.
Even John Oliver ... even? Not a great comedian but he often takes on fraudsters and the like. To his credit.
But Christians scamming fellow Christians? I am SO conflicted here for obvious reasons. Just not surprised.
It's not so much different than christians massacring christians (I am not talking about conflicts between christians countries).
I enjoy his comedy.
No accounting for tastes.... 😉
You've possibly only seen his late night shows? He's good in them for the most part. He was mediocre before that IMO. Like Corden.
Part of being successful is finding the thing you do well. Or at least well enough to satisfy your customers.
I am not a fan of Cordon.
Others are, that's fine. 🙂
Corden's career got off to a promising start in The History Boys. After that he quickly became one of those performers who are so eager to ingratiate themselves with the audience that the final effect is cloying. His antics in One Man, Two Guvnors were so over-the-top I was horribly embarrassed to be watching him.
Children being affected by naive or goober parents are what get my goat.
SMH So that's the problem, they didn't sacrifice a goat!
ChristianCare: Built on Faith, Designed to Fail.
It only 'failed' because the shysters were stupid enough to get caught.
Shell games have a completely different, almost 180 degree different, definition of 'failure'.
They need a class in at least 1-Sigma Design, much less 3-Sigma Design.
Found out from the place called Reality that 'failure' is a very fleeting term that needs to be defined BEFORE you go looking for and preventing it.
The ANSI standards on statistical sampling of manufactured/bought products are easy to understand in the sampling methods and frequency tables, but you first have to actually define what 'failure' means and then know what can cause that 'failure'
The only reason many other 'successful' health care plans are not 'failures' is because 'failure' was defined carefully enough, with help from the gummint at all levels, so the auditors and lawyers would have to spend more to make a their overhead and profit than they could ever recover in the actual civil or criminal action. Of course, there are relatively good healthcare systems, but they work in a good part by beating down the fraudulent pricings of the healthcare industry, itself.
For a moment, let's talk about Christians and donating money. I promise it's relevant, if somewhat tangential.
Back in the mid-80s to early 90s, my parents were dragging me to church and as the loyal Christians they were, they were making donations to the church every Sunday. I'll grant that as a family, we were fairly well off for the most part, but there were plenty of times that money could have gone to something we needed as a family and been far more help than giving it to the church. Around '84 or so, the church decided to do an audit of who was giving what, how much, and how often; I think it may have had to do with considering some sort of major expenditure. (I'd have been really young, this is something my mother explained years down the road.) This is when my parents found out that they were one of the church's major donors, since they got the results of the audit and even though names had been removed they knew what they were giving. This is despite the fact that there were several other families that attended the same church who seemed to be far wealthier than mine.
Here's what I learned: Do NOT trust Christians to donate money to any cause they are not required to for one reason or another, and be aware that when Christians do donate money, they are not the sort to give more than they absolutely must. High quality suits/dresses and fancy gold watches do not come cheap, where do you think that money comes from? I don't care if it's a church, ministry, or any other sort of allegedly 'Christian' organization; ALWAYS be sure to read the fine print and understand what is and is not actually on offer before you give them so much as a penny. Oversight is imperative whenever there is money involved and no amount of 'Jesus saves!' is going to change that.
When your pastor is asking for money while he's living in a mansion and flying around in private jets, it's time to reevaluate where one's money goes.
Acts 2:44-45 "Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need."
The bishops and other christian honchos put an end to that shit as fast as they could, didn't they? Gee, I wonder why.
They wanted to get rid of the pesky SJWs in their ranks. Then the grift could begin in earnest.
That's filthy communism. The bible promotes capitalism (Fox News told me so) even as it condemns greed (my preacher told me so (not all of them are blatant grifters, I firmly believe there exists some who are honestly trying to help people))
Even before then – our own "bishop" Tamaki hasn't got to the personal jet stage yet but he has a couple of Harley-Davidson's and a really posh Mercedes or two. All from the poor.
Don't forget sneakers who cost more than my shoes budget since I started to wear them.
Yet Christians have the temerity to call atheists "immoral."
Only bad Christians call atheists imoral. Good one just wait till you need God.
Scratch a Christian, get a crook.
The good Christians that are appalled by things like this might consider finding themselves another religion. Or better still? Non-belief.
God loves you no matter how ignorant you are….